So it's come time to upgrade my track bike and I'm stuck between Omniums, Dura-Ace, or Rotor. I've herd of the Rotors snapping so if anyone has and more information I'd appreciate it. Criteria for choice are stiffness and durability, the bike sees hard street use as well as racing.

I assume you're looking for a more high end crank. I use a Vuelta track crank with a Miche square taper bottom bracket, alloy chainring nuts and a Genetic track ring. Works very well. All street use so that is why the front brake.

The three I mentioned are the only ones I'm considering since I get killer deals on them . Sorry @geoff what do you mean by balance? Dura-Ace is at the bottom of my list because although they are dead sexy they are the least stiff

I have the Omniums and have zero issues. The use of the GXP bottom bracket for me is better than square taper, and I would imagine more stiff? They all have the same BCD so ring choice is similar across the board.

You might do a search on this subject because it's been covered innumerable times here. They are all worth considering, as are some of the others mentioned. The Rotor has had a few issues that seem to be ironed out, but may be worth avoiding just in case. To compare Dura Ace and Omnium, you can't really use Omniums right out of the box. People still are having periodic problems with the GXP bottom bracket it comes boxed with, so you are encouraged to upgrade the BB when you install it. The chain line of the Omnium isn't quite 42.5 mm, so you have some chain misalign, but it isn't killer -- it just decreases the lifetime of your chainring, cog, and chain and makes it all noisier. The most obnoxious problem is that the Omnium is slightly thicker than everyone else at the chainring bolts, so when you start exchanging rings (and for track, you better be) the bolts bottom out before the ring is secure -- so you have to plan to buy another set of chainring bolts. I'd recommend the Dura Ace anyway because they embed into the back of the crank arm and you don't need an extra tool to hold onto them or a way to manage them so they don't get lost. There also isn't as much ankle clearance with the Omniums as with the Dura Ace -- that may not matter to you, but check it out. And lastly, the resale is higher on Dura Ace than on anything else so you'll recover more than the little bit extra you pay for Dura Ace up front.

By the way, there's a lot of BS running around about crank arm and bottom bracket stiffness. The problems with Dura Ace only come from incorrect installation -- done properly, they are immensely stiff; a big test of track cranks showed that the only stiffer crank was the SRM track crank (also Shimano Octalink). The Dura Ace 7710 track bottom bracket is superb, and if you grab an Ultegra 6500 bottom bracket in the double-chainring version, you'll get an even better one. Bottom line, I'd get the Dura Ace. You'll never regret the choice.

Everything is all black carbon (various companies) or Thomson except for the soon to be Dura-Ace hubs and the frame , I'll post a photo when the upgrades are done. I was planning on Omniums since a) they come in black (not for much longer though), b) unless it was due to improper install I haven't herd of any problems with them, and c) I though the external BB would make them stiffer than DA but it seams that isn't true, . That being said I really wish the DA cranks came in black......

Dura-Ace 7710 cranks are essentially the only track crank that matters.

They are in fact stiffer than Campy ones, my old frame had really tight chain stay clearance and the Record track cranks deflected enough (3mm+) to scratch all the paint off! The DA needle-roller bottom bracket is completely amazing, but make sure you or who ever does install it reads the bloody instructions. Anyone that races track at the top level will be using DA 7710 for a reason. They only reason anyone is NOT using them is because they've got a Look frame with Zed cranks or some secrete Team GB or Aussie BT action.

Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 10:47 amPosts: 922Location: somewere floating between here and the other side

in a perfect world i probably would run dura ace track crancks with a serviceable octal ink bb on my track bike.but last time i checked they still had the sram omniums on them and really can't fault them,i can't imagine the omniums failing at "hard street use'but the trick very nicely on the velodrome (-:

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